


Flight

by DominusFero



Series: Home is Where the Harpy Is [4]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Bird/Human Hybrids, Daniel Acting as Max's Parental Figure (Camp Camp), David Acting as Max's Parental Figure | Dadvid (Camp Camp), Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Gen, Harpy!Daniel, Hide and Seek, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, M/M, Missing Persons, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DominusFero/pseuds/DominusFero
Summary: The worst thing a parent can face is the sudden disappearance of their child.
Relationships: Daniel & Max (Camp Camp), Daniel/David (Camp Camp), David & Max (Camp Camp)
Series: Home is Where the Harpy Is [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611706
Kudos: 24





	Flight

It was a rather cool afternoon with partly cloudy skies and a brisk breeze sending waves through the trees. Not too cold but not too warm, a perfect middle for a perfect November day. But no matter how fast the wind would blow, it remained warm and cheery inside of David’s home.

It was lunchtime, as it always was at noon on the dot in David’s household. Each and every day without fail, he served delicious dishes for his family right on time. He took great pride in providing scrumptious meals for his family. And today he was making a delicious feast for Max: yummy yemista and a crisp choriatiki. Fairly simple yet so complex in flavor. 

Placing the finishing touches on a bowl of yemista, David set the dish down on a placemat beside a glass of milk and a small plate of choriatiki. He poked at the silverware, aligning it just so on the placemat. Everything had to be perfect for his special little man.

“Maaaaax~!” David called in a sing-song tone of voice. “Lunchtime!” No response. Odd. Shrugging, David chalked it up to the boy taking his time coming down the stairs. Last he had checked, Max was doing some literacy homework. Pulling out a seat for the boy, David leaned against it as he waited for his son to come downstairs. After too much time passed for his liking, David called for Max again. “Maaaaaax-!” Again, no response. Against his better judgment, David’s heart began to sink in his chest with a terrifying realization. Being late to lunch was completely out of the ordinary for the boy; he almost never missed any meals.

Leaving the table, David began to hurriedly search the small house for his son. First, he checked the laundry room. He poked his head into the baskets filled with dirty laundry, digging through soiled shirts, smelly underwear and several used sheet sets. Opening the washing machine and dryer, David ducked his head into the barrels as he shakily murmured a muffled, “Max?” Moving into the downstairs storage, David tried not to slip down the stairs as he took them three at a time. With a vicious tug, he yanked bins out to rifle through them, tossing clothes, toys and other assorted items left and right. No such luck there either. Tearing up two flights of stairs, David bounded up and down the halls as he searched the bathroom, Max’s bedroom and the study. Empty, empty, empty. Mind racing, he flew down the first set of stairs, around the banister and practically kicked open the front door. Once outside, he dashed around his property looking quite disheveled. Rounding the front of his house from the left, one of his neighbors waved to him, but David barely had the mental capacity to even wave back.

The rest of what happened became a tearful, blurred memory. He did not remember heading back inside, elbows and ears red from the wind. He did not remember pulling open the front closet and knocking coats to the floor. He did not remember regretting not checking in on the status of Max’s homework or asking him how things were coming along. He did not remember audibly wishing he had remembered to tell Max he loved him for the twentieth time that day. He did not remember traversing the stairs once again. He did not remember walking down the seemingly forever extending hall to his room, drowning in a sea of unrelenting twisted emotions. The ‘What Could Have Been’, ‘-Should Have Been’, ‘-Should Have Done’. He did not remember any of it, until he found himself lingering outside of his bedroom. God, how would he break this to Daniel? How would he take it?

His mind drifted back to the days when they were childless. Daniel had been a mess. Too depressed to move, to eat, to groom himself. He had been so heartbroken, so melancholic, almost as if he had lost his will to live. For the longest time, David thought he would walk into his bedroom to find Daniel had taken his last breath, dead of a broken heart. Every day was spent in fear of that discovery, which was why he fought so hard to finally bring Max home. Now, Max was gone. Would Daniel fall into the same path again? David shuddered at the thought. No, never. He would never let Daniel ever feel like that again. He loved him too much to let him suffer those foreign feelings. He was too innocent, too deserving. But yet...could he really lie to him?

Heart pounding in his chest, David paused in the doorway to catch his breath. Sleeping soundly in the center of the bed, Daniel rested with his head tucked into his shoulders. Faintly, David could hear the trembling warble of the harpy’s snoring. Reluctantly, David tiptoed up to the bed, pushing himself up onto the mattress beside the harpy. Sensing someone sitting down next to him, Daniel opened his mouth in a wide yawn, curling his pink barbed tongue. Sighing with a tired smile, David reached up towards Daniel’s face.

“Hey, Danny,” He whispered softly, combing his fingers through Daniel’s soft blond hair. Eyes barely open, the harpy squinted at the human through a heavy fog of sleep. A faint smile spread across his lips as he received a gentle kiss on his temple. “Sorry to wake you,” David apologized, caressing Daniel’s cheek with his thumb, “but I can’t find Max. You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?”

“Not in r-room?” The harpy asked in a weak tone, still very much asleep. Thankfully, he was too tired to see just how frightened David truly was in the moment. “Not ho-home?” Trying to wake himself, Daniel blinked owlishly, one eye at a time. He ruffled his feathers by shuffling his wings, shifting slightly on the bed. He yawned again, licking his lips before shoving his nose into David’s hair with a content sigh.

“No, and I’ve looked all over. I even went outside.” David’s voice trembled as he tried desperately to not to let his inner anxieties betray him. The last thing he needed was to panic, which would no doubt stir up even stronger feelings in Daniel. An emotionally compromised harpy on the hunt for his chick was the last thing this town would need. Leaning on Daniel for support, David buried his face in a mass of blinding white. “Gosh, I hope he’s alright.”

Suddenly, half of Max popped out from underneath Daniel’s feathery down with a loud shriek, screaming at the top of his lungs with an aggressive, “RAAAAAAAAAAGHRRR-!”. His fingers were hooked like little talons, his hair a wild puff with little feathers ensnared in his thick locks.

David fell back with a shrill scream, clutching his chest as it nearly leapt through his ribcage. Daniel squawked out of surprise, looking quite shocked to find that he had been harboring a stowaway. His body had puffed up in fright, feathers standing on end, pupils small and thin in distress.

“HA-HA, I GOT YOU!!” Max laughed triumphantly. However, that jubilation was soon dead in the air as neither David nor Daniel were amused. 

“Max! That is not funny!” David scolded, once he found his tongue. “I looked all over for you! You had me worried, I thought you ran away!” His voice still had that sorrowful tremble to it, his words wavering on the heavier side of a potential breakdown.

Hearing his father’s voice made Max feel a tad guilty. All he wanted to do was have a bit of fun. All he meant to do was play a harmless prank. In hindsight, he should have at least woken Daniel up and made him aware of his plans rather than sneak underneath him while he slept. At least then, someone would have known where he was.

“O-oh, I’m sorry, Dad.” The boy apologized sheepishly, staring down at the blankets. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Biting his tongue, David shakily took in another breath. He wanted to scold Max for scaring him, really he did. Hiding purposefully, when not part of a game, without letting anyone know of your whereabouts was not okay. But then again, Max was only a young boy. He liked to play games, he could be mischievous at times. He had no ill intentions other than momentarily stopping David’s heart for a laugh. But that was hardly grounds for punishment. Sighing in resignation, David decided it would be best to let it go just this once.

“It’s okay, but please don’t ever hide like that again.”

“I won’t!” Max promised, crawling out from beneath the harpy to give his human father a hug. On the verge of tears of happiness and relief, David wholeheartedly accepted Max’s warm embrace. Stifling the sob threatening to stumble out, he held onto the boy like he was embracing him for the last time. With an unsteady hand, he ran his fingers through the boy’s coarse, thick black curls, hands trembling all the while. David felt his body collapse, the tension holding him upright completely dissolved. He fell sideways against the harpy’s voluminous feathered form, the warmth and safety of his love keeping him tethered. Curious as to why his love was shaking so terribly, the harpy peered down at his family, head tilted to one side.

“D-David...okay?” He asked of both humans. Not waiting to receive an answer, he impatiently prodded David in the side of the head with his face. Finding it humorous, Max giggled which made David’s temporary fog of despair dissipate and allowed him to finally feel at ease.

“Yes, Danny, David okay.” David answered with a fond smile. Turning his head to meet Daniel, he gave the harpy a quick peck, making the bird trill in delight. Wanting to share the love, Daniel began poking his nose around in Max’s hair as he lovingly licked the top of the boy’s head. The rough scratchiness of his tongue tickled, making the boy break out in a small fit of giggles.

After a bit, things settled down. It was a comfortable silence, the three of them sitting there on the bed taking everything in.

“So…” Max asked in an inquisitive tone, his voice trailing off, “what’d you make for lunch?”


End file.
